Agenda - 03-03-2015 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 1 Chair Jacobs asked about the legislative impacts on the health department. 2 Colleen Bridger said this is not known yet. She said Orange County has the lowest per 3 capita funding for health departments in North Carolina. She said this is normally not a good 4 thing unless you are considering the cuts. 5 Chair Jacobs asked how the department is doing at serving dental patients in southern 6 Orange County. 7 Colleen Bridger said there is an increase in the whole County, and she would 8 recommend exploring other avenues for providing dental services in the southern part of the 9 County. 10 Commissioner McKee asked if there has been any partnership with private providers in 11 the southern part of the County. 12 Colleen Bridger said Piedmont Health Services has been a partner in southern 13 Carrboro. 14 Commissioner McKee asked if they are capable of providing the additional services 15 needed in the next couple of years. 16 Colleen Bridger said Piedmont Health Services would love to provide the staff to do that 17 if the County could supply the space. 18 Commissioner Price asked if they provide the same services as the County. 19 Colleen Bridger said the services are largely the same, except for dentures. 20 Commissioner Gordon asked how many dental patients are coming from the southern 21 part of the County. 22 Colleen Bridger said she would need to get back to the Board with the actual numbers. 23 She said there have been discussions about putting more square footage at the Southern 24 Human Services Center and adding dental space in the southern part of the County. She said 25 Piedmont Health Services would provide the staff, and the citizens would benefit. 26 Chair Jacobs asked if her department works with nursing homes on dental care by going 27 to the facilities. 28 Colleen Bridger said no, but there has been discussion about busing senior citizens to 29 the Hillsborough facility to provide services that cannot be provided in the nursing homes. 30 Chair Jacobs asked for follow up on this. He said this is one of the gaps in care for 31 seniors in assisted living and nursing homes. 32 33 Human Resources, Pg. 325 (including Non-Departmental Items, Pg. 340) 34 Brenda Bartholomew said the 2014-15 increase of$55,000 for the department is 35 primarily due to cost of living adjustment, new hires, and equity retentions. 36 She noted the non department items on page 340, which will be discussed more at a 37 future meeting. 38 Commissioner Gordon asked if any positions have been cut this year. 39 Brenda Bartholomew said no. 40 Commissioner Gordon asked about the delays for open positions. 41 Cheryl Young said there are 6 month delays for open positions, but staff can ask for a 42 waiver for critical positions. 43 Commissioner Gordon said there were efforts not to cut positions during the recession, 44 but to save money with the delays. She asked if this is still the case. 45 Cheryl Young said yes. She said the six month hiring delay resulted in a savings of 46 approximately $2 million this year. She said the furlough is a voluntary program, and it is 47 estimated at $30,000. 48 Chair Jacobs referred to page 326 and asked if turnover data is normally tracked or if 49 this is a special effort.